Daily Archives: July 23, 2015
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report July 23, 2015
There’s an emergency Board of Fisheries meeting tomorrow to discuss who can fish in the Togiak District when, and what’s coming for the Bristol Bay meeting later this fall, plus – more fishermen unhappy about prices. Listen to the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report here 23:11
P.E.I. Tuna tag time – Draws to be held after registrations conclude Friday
Fishermen calling in or dropping in to register to be included in draws for extra tuna tags made for a busy day Thursday at the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association office. As in previous years, all of the more than 300 members of the Island’s tuna fleet are eligible to purchase one tag each. That tag is needed to fish the Island’s 123.9-tonne share of the Canadian allocation, and it must be used by September 30. One of the draws on Friday will generate a list of licence numbers from the Island’s fleet who might get to continue fishing after September 30, Read the rest here 22:38
Last Groundfish Permit Stays on Martha’s Vineyard, Though Unicorn Days Are Numbered
The Nature Conservancy, working with the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, has purchased the Island’s last historic groundfish permit, marking a major milestone in the trust’s efforts to develop a permit bank to support Island fishermen. The federal , also known as a groundfish permit, was held by Greg Mayhew, owner of the Unicorn, a legendary 75-foot dragger out of Menemsha. He declined to comment on the cost of the permit, saying only that prices for fishing permits can range from $20,000 to $2 million. Read the rest here 20:14
Coast Guard responds to ammonia leak, exposed crewmembers 80 miles north of Cold Bay
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane, MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter deployed on the Kodiak-based Coast Guard Cutter Munro are responding to a distressed vessel. Coast Guard personnel are responding to reports of an ammonia leak and crewmembers suffering from ammonia exposure on the fishing vessel Alaska Juris 80 miles north of Cold Bay Thursday. Read the rest here 17:34
Antibiotics turn US salmon buyers against farmed fish
That’s prompted CostCo, to turn away from farmed salmon from Chile – the world’s second largest producer – due to its record use of antibiotics to kill deadly bacteria in its net pens. According to Reuters, Chile increased use last year to 1.2 million pounds of antibiotics on production of nearly 900-thousand tons of salmon. That’s a 25 percent increase from 2013. Costco – the number three U.S. retailer – used to buy 90 percent of the 600,000 pounds of salmon fillets it sells each week from Chile, accounting for nearly nine percent of Chilean exports to the U.S. Read the rest here 16:53
Lobster supply scarcity throwing buyers for a loop
The late North American lobster season caused by last winter’s extra cold temperatures is continuing to throw buyers for a loop even as the Maine season hits its stride. Although soft shell lobster out of Maine is now available, hard shell lobster from Maine remains scarce still, leaving suppliers with a dwindling inventory of Canadian hard-shell product to rely upon. “The late season in Canada meant they [fishermen] had to start earlier, and they didn’t get to put away much. The late season down here [in the US] meant that things are still filling in.” Read the rest here 13:59
Maine Department of Marine Resources gets $256 Thousand for trawl survey from NOAA
The survey gathers important data on the groundfish and lobster populations in near shore waters in the Gulf of Maine from the Massachusetts coast to the Canadian border. The Maine-New Hampshire Inshore Trawl Survey is a collaborative research project among DMR, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and commercial fishermen. Surveys are conducted twice a year, in the spring and fall, using a commercial fishing vessel. Read the rest here 13:28
Fifty Years Ago Today: The tragic sinking of Portland scallop trawler F/V Snoopy still vivid
The Associated Press reported at the time that the Snoopy was “blown to bits” in a “freak explosion.” News reports from the 1960s suggested that while fishermen would at times bring up World War II munitions in the years after the war, it was extremely rare for them to explode. While all the fishermen were from Maine, the scallop supply had depleted off the coast of Maine in the mid-1960s, and his brother and others looked to points south for better fishing, George Doody said. On the fateful trip, they trawled for scallops near the Outer Banks off North Carolina. Doody said they almost left to return to Maine the day before, but decided to stay one more day. Read the rest here
Researchers conclude popular rockfish is actually two distinct species
A new analysis confirms that the Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus), a popular and commercially significant rockfish sought by anglers primarily off the California and Oregon coasts, is actually two separate and distinct species. “Black Rockfish are the major target of the complex and have a separate quota, set at 440 metric tons,” Wagman said. “But the Blue Rockfish quota is much lower and ODFW is concerned that if fishing efforts exceed that quota, then all groundfish fishing would have to stop in Oregon because even incidental catch and release of Blue Rockfish would exceed the quota.” Read the rest here 09:10
“just 100 cod left in the North Sea” – Media’s fish tales and codology
Recovery of stocks of a species we were told was near extinction shows fishermen were right, writes Simon Collins. But the truth will out in the end. Almost three years on from “100 cod”, and five years after they last called for North Sea cod catches to be reduced to zero, the scientists assessing key fish stocks have just issued their latest advice. “Told you so” is not much comfort to the fishermen who have been portrayed as the bad guys over the years by national media, not to mention environmentalists who knew perfectly well what was going on all along. Read the rest here 08:09
